I understand a portfolio website as being a place to showcase your best work, and also as a means of contact for anyone wishing to get in touch. The design and features included in my portfolio will be tailored to meet the needs of my target audience and also to achieve my goals.
The first of my target audiences are academic staff, who may visit my portfolio to sample the standard of work being turned out and to understand what the course involves. I believe this audience therefore requires the site to be well organised, with clear navigation and titles etc. Content required, aside from the visuals of work, will be descriptions of skills used or learnt in each piece of work and also a link or feed to my learning journal. This is so they can easily identify what work was involved in specific modules and so they can get an insight into my learning experience on the course.
My next audience are peers or family, who may visit my portfolio to see what kind of work I do, take inspiration or to contact me. I believe this audience therefore requires the site design to be a reflection of my personality, and to be interesting. My family or peers may not have any interest at all in web design therefore it needs to draw and maintain their attention; otherwise they will exit the site. Content required, aside from clear visuals of work, will be a range of contact links such as social media and email details. A bookmark feature might also be useful for those users who are searching for ideas or inspiration.
Finally, I believe the most important target audience are potential employers, who may visit the site when I apply for a web design job role. I believe this audience therefore requires the site to clearly display my work in categories based on the type of work. Content required, aside from detailed visuals of my work, will be a description for each piece detailing the skills used and the original design brief given. A link to the ‘live’ version of the work is needed and a full list of skills and qualifications that I have would also be of interest.
Listed below are the goals for my portfolio website;
- To present my best work in the best possible light, to make it look impressive.
- To list my web design and development skills with evidence of them in practice.
- Provide an easy means of contact with myself through a wide range of methods.
- Create some interest/hits/return visits with regularly updated content, such as a blog.
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